3 Real Madrid players who have benefited the most from Carlo Ancelotti

LW Vinicius Junior

Many Madridistas would see Vinicius Junior at the top of the list as the most improved player for Real Madrid this season, but there is a player who I believe has been even better than him (but I will talk about him in the next slide).

Bought from Flamengo in 2018 for a fee of €45, Los Blancos has trusted heavily on the Brazilian Prodigy. Vinicius has got a lot of opportunities as a youngster and has flourished into a fine player so far. Even though he initially failed to impress the manager and Madridistas with his poor finishing skills, he did show them some promising sparks for a bright future. Despite having bad shooting, Vinicius would often act as a constant threat for the opposition’s defenders with his high quality skills and lightning sprints.

The frustrated manager had no other option than to trust the Brazilian due to the regular injuries of Eden Hazard, and Zinedine Zidane was finally able to find the best way to use Vinicius’ speed, of which we say a glimpse in the Real Madrid vs Liverpool first leg last season. A beautiful ball up top from Toni Kroos, with Vinicius controlling it with a beautiful first touch, and then an easy finish. That was the kind of game the 21 year old needed for boosting his morale. Even though he could not score much after that game, he looked much more confident and sharp with the ball.

The admission of Carlo Ancelotti for the current season proved to be a boon for the youngster. He has been scoring a lot of goals, and his combinations with Karim Benzema has been wonderful. The assist to Benzema’s goal against Rayo Vallecano was another beautiful play from the Brazilian. His top performances have helped Karim Benzema recover from the injuries he had been facing, giving some chances to Luka Jovic and helping him improve, too.

So far this season, Vinicius Junior has scored 16 goals and assisted 9 in the 35 games he has played for the club, averaging 2.5 shots and 2.1 key passes a game. Vinicius also has a team high of 2.9 average completed dribbles for Real Madrid and is able to draw at least 2 fouls for his team.

Despite having such impressive statistics, I opted to choose him as the 2nd most improved player due to his inconsistent performances lately. For example, in the game against PSG where he was hardly visible and was often robbed of possession. In the Rayo game too, he did not have much positive impact other than that combination with the captain leading to the game winning goal.

Carlo Ancelotti trusts Vinicius Junior with all his heart and the Brazilian’s contribution in the next few weeks will be very crucial for Real Madrid. Some positive consistent performances will definitely have Real Madrid win the LaLiga title this season.